Is Peer Pressure Good for the Environment?

When Slate's Daniel Gross publicly posted
his electricity and heating oil usage rates, he didn't anticipate how
many readers would write in to lambaste him as an energy "porker." But
this led Gross to a revelation:
When energy usage rates are public for all to see, the threat of public
shaming becomes a real disincentive to over-consumption. Gross further
concludes that, if everyone in his neighborhood also made their
energy usage rates public, they would naturally begin to compete to see
who could use less. Why? Peer pressure! "Engineers like to say that
what gets measured gets controlled," he writes.

Xcel Energy has been doing experiments about this in its service area.
It sends report cards that "lets the customers know in a colorful bar
chart how they rate when their combined electrical and natural gas use
for the past month is compared with 100 neighbors in similar-size
homes. It also lets them know how they did compared with their most
efficient neighbors." Those that perform well against these benchmarks
receive two smiley faces. It sounds like second grade, but this
information can be a powerful motivator. Utilities that have tried such
efforts report that these efforts alone result in reductions of 2
percent to 3 percent, which is significant.

News reports are focusing on the Germanwings pilot's possible depression, following a familiar script in the wake of mass killings. But the evidence shows violence is extremely rare among the mentally ill.